Vijay Mallya arrested on fraud charges in London by Scotland Yard, gets bail

Next step is legal process to see if he can be extradited.

Embattled Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender, was on Tuesday arrested in London by Scotland Yard on India’s request for his extradition on fraud charges. Senior Indian officials described his arrest as the first salvo in the case which will now involve a legal process in the UK to determine if Mallya can be extradited to India to face charges in Indian courts.

The arrest comes weeks after Indian finance minister Arun Jaitley had indicated that Mallya’s extradition would feature in his talks during his visit to the UK. The 61-year-old liquor baron, wanted in India for defaulting on loans, was arrested after he appeared at a central London police station this morning.

The flamboyant businessman, who once called himself “the king of good times”, was released on bail a few hours later. “Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Extradition Unit this morning arrested a man on an extradition warrant. Vijay Mallya was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud,” Scotland Yard told PTI.

The Metropolitan Police said Mallya was arrested after attending a central London police station. He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London and was seen walking out with his legal team a few hours later after being granted bail.

“It was a voluntary action. He will be out in a few minutes,” said a member of Mallya’s team at the court, without giving any further details of the bail conditions. “Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in Court started today as expected,” Mallya tweeted soon after getting bail.

In New Delhi, minister of state for finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said, “We are now assessing the facts how we can bring him back into the country and start judicial proceedings against him.”

The government, he said, will leave no stone unturned to bring to justice anyone indulging in financial irregularities.
Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016. He has repeatedly dismissed the charges against him. In January, an Indian court ordered a consortium